On 9 July 2021, President Joe Biden issued an executive order announcing his administration’s commitment to increasing vigorous antitrust enforcement. At the one-year anniversary of the EO, a recent flurry of enforcement efforts signals that the Department of Justice remains vigilant in carrying out the EO’s initiatives, especially in the labor markets.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled OFAC Issues New General Licenses Related to Russia-Related New Investment Prohibition and Updates FAQs on 27 July 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
In 2021 and 2022, as the market continued to focus increasingly on environmental, social, and governance issues, government financial regulators across many independent agencies strongly indicated that increased enforcement relating to ESG is on the horizon, while private plaintiffs filed novel securities class actions based on ESG issues.
Given the rapid development of legal ESG issues in the financial services industry, market participants must remain cognizant of the potential legal risks relating to ESG, and take adequate precautions to protect themselves against both government investigations and private civil litigation. This article analyzes the emerging framework of ESG regulation and litigation in order to advise market participants of the upcoming legal risks relating to ESG issues.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled OFAC issues new and amended Russia General Licenses, FAQs; new fact sheet on agricultural trade on 19 July 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled Canada bans the provision of two additional services to the Russian oil, gas, chemical and manufacturing industries, designates eight new sanctioned manufacturing industries on 20 July 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
Baker McKenzie’s Sanctions Blog published the alert titled House NDAA would ban federal contracts with businesses operating in Russia on 20 July 2022. Read the article via the link here. Please also visit our Sanctions Blog for the most recent updates.
The recently signed United States-Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership focuses on enhanced engagement, increased trade and investment, and sustainable and inclusive growth that is beneficial to both countries. The agreement aligns with the US’s renewed Prosper Africa initiative, announced a year ago.
In an attempt to protect its oil and gas industry, Texas has passed legislation that seeks to punish investment firms that divest from fossil fuel related investments. On 16 March 2022, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Glenn Hegar, sent a letter to 19 major financial companies which was not limited to US or Texas-based companies and included Japanese companies requesting verification that they do not engage in investment policies that result in the boycott of fossil fuel-based energy. This request was made pursuant to Texas Government Code Chapter 809: recent legislation prohibiting the Texas Government from investing in financial companies that take any action intended to penalize, inflict economic harm, or limit commercial relations with a company based on the company’s involvement in fossil fuel-based energy.
On 8 July 2022, the Department of Justice announced a settlement of cybersecurity fraud charges against Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc. (Aerojet) following an action under the False Claims Act. Aerojet agreed to pay USD 9 million to the US government to settle allegations that it misrepresented its compliance with cybersecurity requirements when entering into federal government contracts with NASA and the Department of Defense.
Over the past few months, the Federal Trade Commission has engaged in a comprehensive review of how the agency should evaluate antitrust issues affecting the pharmaceutical distribution stack.